


When All Is Lost.

by Glorfindel



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Battle, Humor, Humour, M/M, Mild Angst, Red poison, Spiders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 21:49:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13667970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glorfindel/pseuds/Glorfindel
Summary: After being banished to the wine cellars for a witty remark about Legolas, Galion has hardly any contact with his former fellow warriors, in particular, the one he wants to be with most in the world. Losing hope he drinks wine with abandon, especially Legolas' priceless vintages. His desperation comes to the notice of Thranduil, who agrees to let Galion sail. Will the object of his adoration realise what is happening and save the day? Not likely, unless something extreme happens to bring them both together!





	When All Is Lost.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nuredhel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nuredhel/gifts).



> Thank you to my wonderful beta, Keiliss, whose generosity knows no bounds. I am honoured to have such a great writer as my beta and also as a friend.
> 
> Thank you to the lovely Ignoblebard, whose cheerleading and support has proved invaluable. I am also honoured to have him as a friend.
> 
> This story is for Nuredhel - enjoy :)

"Galion is drunk again," Legolas said after shutting the doors to his Father's sitting room. "I went to get a bottle of elderflower, and there he was, fast asleep with an empty bottle of red gooseberry beside him."

 

Thranduil shrugged. "Just lately he is always drunk." He rose from his desk and motioned for his son to join him on a large sofa woven from black spider silk. The predators were useful for some things, but they would not be missed if they disappeared completely.

 

The sofa was complemented by a light wood table that was studded with delicate silver tracery. Beautiful to look at but a complete headache for the maids who were charged with polishing away the inevitable tarnish every single day. However, Thranduil hardly took notice of such things, whereas he was very keen to know what was going on with Galion. He gave Legolas a glass and poured some wine from a carafe carved from a single piece of blue jasper decorated with white pastoral scenes of life in Imladris - a Yule present from Elrond, who was always keen to promote his home as some sort of idyll, especially when compared to the other elven realms.

 

"Do you suppose that he has been thwarted in love?" Legolas asked, idly twirling the stem of his glass. "Have you ever drank wine out of a cup?"

 

"I would die before drinking wine in such a way," Thranduil exclaimed haughtily, knowing that Legolas had indeed drank wine from any receptacle at hand. "I have no idea what is up with Galion, but I think I should find out. We can't have him drinking all the wine, there will be none left for everyone else at this rate."

 

"A slight exaggeration," Legolas observed quietly before sipping his wine.

 

"One of the bottles he finished yesterday belonged to you. He said he was tasting it to see if it was worthy enough and, somehow, the whole lot swilled down his throat." 

 

"I have hundreds of bottles. I am sure one won't be missed." Legolas had no time for teasing. 

 

"Well that's good. I am sure Glorfindel will send you another bottle of Old Elanor if you explain what happened."

 

"Galion's dead. That was the last bottle in existence!" Legolas' eyes blazed with anger. He went to stand up, but Thranduil pulled him back down.

 

"Relax, we have quite a few bottles of Old Elanor."

 

"But none for that year. That bottle was from Glorfindel's private collection," Legolas protested. "I was going to open that at my wedding."

 

"You haven't even got a lover!" Thranduil laughed, open mouthed with astonishment. "How are you going to get married if you aren't with anyone?"

 

"You banished the last girlfriend I had!" Legolas stood up. He marched across the room and flung the door open so hard it bounced back off the wall and stubbed his toes. That did not deter Legolas though. As a parting shot he shouted, "And the one before that!" before storming off.

 

Thranduil chuckled to himself. Allowing two of his girlfriends to sail was hardly banishment, and the fault lay with Legolas entirely. He didn't like to party and have a good time with friends. He didn't see why he should woo girlfriends and make them feel loved, apparently a prince shouldn't have to do anything like that. He would choose a maiden to be his girlfriend, and she had no choice in the matter. What lay ahead for any of them were long evenings reading worthy, fact based books, mostly concerning the social structures of wild dogs and their interactions with humans, and the occasional one about the possible existence of backward walking sheep. Then the poor, hapless girl would have to discuss the passages they had read together. Legolas would mark her contributions out of ten. Sometimes Legolas would practice his flute. He was not a natural flute player. The poor girl would have to sit with a fixed smile, clap and show excitement at the end of each hour-long performance. No wonder they had asked to sail, Thranduil thought to himself. However, he suspected there was a reason behind Legolas' behaviour and wondered if he could get to the bottom of that as well.

 

o0oo0oo0o

 

Galion woke up with a headache the size of Mount Doom. "Why do I always do this to myself?" he mused as he looked in the bathroom mirror and tweezed a stray hair poking out his left nostril. "I look like a dog, like I have been dragged through a hedge."

 

"Right," he said aloud to his image in the mirror. "This has got to stop. I am only hurting myself." He said that every morning, but this time he would make an extra effort to make it happen, just like he did every day. The trouble was that working in the cellars was boring. He was King Thranduil's wine taster; his other duties included storing the wine, maintaining quality control, tons of audits, and a mass of paperwork.

 

"If only I was still a warrior," he mused quietly. His mind conjured up an image of Feren, the Captain of the guard, the most handsome, bravest, fairest warrior in the whole of Middle-earth. He was directly responsible to the weirdo Legolas. "I shouldn't think of Legolas like that, but he is one." The thought made Galion grin.

 

For the first time since waking, Galion felt all right. "I am glad I drank his Old Elanor," he thought. "He should never have fired me for joking that he fancied Glorfindel. Serves him right, especially as it's true."

 

He combed his hair and wove it into a plait down his back. "Not bad looking at all. Scrubbed up well again," he said out loud, as he looked this way and that in the mirror. "I doubt that Feren will want me though. I have never known him be interested in anyone who wasn't a warrior." He sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he would have to look elsewhere, or not at all, before hurriedly making his bed and then leaving his rooms for another boring day in the wine cellar.

 

o0o0o0o0o

 

"Elrond, look at this." Glorfindel handed Elrond a letter addressed to him from Thranduil.

 

"I really do not like to read the personal correspondence of others," Elrond said quickly, waving it away, while hoping to eat his breakfast in peace. He had cut away the white of a fried egg and eaten it, and now he was looking forward to putting the whole yolk in his mouth, so he could burst it with his tongue and savour the flavoursome creaminess all at once.

 

"Just read it." Glorfindel thrust the note under his nose. "You can eat your breakfast any time."

 

"Actually, I can't," Elrond replied as he took the small sheet of paper. He made Glorfindel wait a full thirty seconds before he started reading it. "Mmm...I never tire of egg yolks. Now, it says here that Galion accidentally drank the bottle of Old Elanor you gave to Legolas. Thranduil knows there isn't another one in existence for that year, but do you have another bottle secreted away, so Legolas can stop yelling at everyone, or do you have an old label he could stick over the top of another year's bottle." Elrond handed the note back. "He needs to grow up and stop being a brat."

 

"I ought to slice Galion's thieving fingers off!" Glorfindel fingered the hilt of his sword, as he liked to do when making empty threats.

 

"It says in the note it was an accident." Elrond cut up a fried tomato and topped it with some baked beans in a buttery tomato sauce. "Go away. I am trying to eat and you are staring at me like an outraged child."

 

"I gave that wine to Legolas!"

 

"Should have pledged your undying love instead. I saw you with your googly eyes looking at him and then making out you were staring at something just beyond him when he looked back."

 

"I DID NOT!"

 

"I also know you lied about it being the only bottle in existence. You have four secreted under your bed."

 

"Five."

 

"No, four. I accidentally borrowed one. It was very nice." Elrond smirked, knowing Glorfindel couldn't do a thing about it. 

 

"Well, I want to go to Mirkwood and take another bottle with me. I am hiding the rest; you are no better than Galion."

 

"Won't Legolas know you lied about the previous bottle you gave him?" Elrond chuckled as he cut through a slice of crispy fried bacon.

 

"I will say you gave me another one. One that I knew nothing about. You will look good, and so will I, even though you don't deserve to." Glorfindel smiled, only because he wanted Elrond to agree; inside he was furious. "Plus I haven't had my holiday allowance for this year."

 

"I don't care if I look good or not, but you can go if you want. Just get back before the snows set in."

 

"Any letters or gifts you want me to deliver?"

 

"Yes, take one of those wine carafes I had made for visitors from other realms, the blue jasper ones with the pastoral scenes in white. Thranduil loved the last one I sent him."

 

Glorfindel left Elrond and went to his room to pack. Afterwards, he gathered together a small party of warriors and the necessary camping equipment, before saddling the horses and leaving Imladris. As they rode towards Mirkwood his heart felt lighter, and he even allowed himself to hope that Legolas might stop liking girls and look at him instead. 

 

o0o0o0o0o

 

"Galion!"

 

King Thranduil was in the cellars. Galion put his paperwork down. He had better go and see what his king wanted. He stood up straight, sighing as he did so, and then he walked along a row of newly mounted barrels, seasoned and airtight, waiting for distilled spirit of wine to be decanted into them. Thranduil came into view at the other end.

 

"My Lord?" Galion bowed and then stood upright. He even gave Thranduil a smile.

 

"Come and sit down. Your staff are outside on various errands, so we can have a few minutes peace."

 

That did not sound good.

 

"Yes, My Lord."

 

Galion followed Thranduil and they sat at a desk covered with various items. In one corner sat a ledger detailing wine imported from other realms, with another beside it counting the wines exported. In the other corner was a collection of quills, with three inkpots lined up beside them. An empty mug was set in the centre, beside a dirty wineglass, which had tipped over at some point and was now resting on a plate with a half eaten cake that was itself balanced on a book about wine tasting tips for royal butlers, written by a long dead predecessor, and a stack of wine menus that needed cleaning.

 

"It's not normally this messy," Galion said apologetically, as he offered Thranduil a chair.

 

"I will come to the point, Galion. You have been drunk more times than I can remember while serving here. Do you not like your job? Believe me, you could have been assigned to something far worse."

 

It was all or nothing. "I preferred being a warrior."

 

"As I have pointed out before, my son does not take kindly to being taunted. Happily, I have smoothed over the incident where you drank his bottle of Old Elanor. Glorfindel is making his way here with a replacement, so I will need you to devise a suitable wine list for his stay."

 

Galion rose. "I am not happy here. It may be best for all of us if I sail." He stared at Thranduil, feeling he had nothing to lose. "I used to feel as though I was part of this realm, but now I feel as though I live a parallel life, where my needs come well below that of anyone. Well, I have had enough."

 

"Surely you are exaggerating somewhat," Thranduil said, as if he had the whole of Middle-earth on his shoulders.

 

"I formally request permission to leave this realm and sail," Galion said quietly. "I will return to my room and pack my things."

 

"Supposing I refuse?" 

 

"Then I will leave anyway. I have nothing here. All I had was being a warrior and your son took that, and my friends, away from me."

 

"How are they not your friends? Warriors have friends outside their groups."

 

"You just don't understand." Galion gave Thranduil a look of pure hurt before walking from the cellar with as much dignity as he could muster. When he turned the corner, he put his head down and walked even faster.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Thranduil strode out onto the courtyard to inspect his troops. Legolas waited to meet him, flanked by Feren, his Captain of the Guard, who stood at a respectful distance.

 

"My Lord, we are ready to leave so we can meet Lord Glorfindel's party," Legolas beamed. 

 

"Yet another one of my subjects is leaving because of you," Thranduil said quietly so the troops could not hear. However, Feren was not of that number, standing only a few feet away, so he heard him clearly.

 

"I cannot think why," Legolas replied. "I have not upset anyone."

 

"Why are none of the warriors here maintaining a friendship with Galion now he is not of their number? All he had was being a warrior and the kinship that came with it, and that is all he has ever known." 

 

"Plenty of warriors maintain friendships outside the corps," Legolas replied brightly.

 

"That's what I said. Then he said I did not understand."

 

Legolas shrugged. "I cannot help that he is a drama queen."

 

"That's the point, Galion is not a drama queen. He is genuinely hurt, which means you are indeed responsible."

 

Feren listened, his face turning from shock to outrage. He could contain himself no longer. "My Lord, I request that I be allowed to talk to Galion. I assume he has not been granted permission to sail yet?"

 

"After our conversation I granted his request. I will not have one of my subjects so unhappy that they feel as though they are leading a parallel life and their needs are of no consequence anymore. That is exactly what he said."

 

"We are departing now, Feren, so you will not have any time to see Galion. He is not one of us anymore, so you should disregard whether he sails or not." Legolas walked away, towards his troops. Feren felt the almost irresistible urge to punch him.

 

Thranduil cast his eyes to the warriors standing in line. Outwardly they gave nothing away, but he could sense an undercurrent of unhappiness, perhaps even anger. "Legolas, we will talk for a moment."

 

"We really have to get going."

 

"No, you will walk with me."

 

"As you wish," Legolas replied, fuming inside.

 

They walked over to a nearby tree. Feren could see them talking, as if they were arguing. He wondered what it meant. If only he could hear them. He watched for a while, and then stood to attention as Legolas marched away from his father, his face full of rage.

 

"Feren," Legolas barked. 

 

Feren followed from behind, tacitly annoyed that his request to see Galion one last time had been brushed aside by Thranduil turning his attention to the callous Legolas. However, it seemed not all was happy between father and son. That made him smile. It was only right that Legolas should have discord in his life after three elves requested permission to sail because of his childish, self-centred actions. 

 

The company left. From his bedroom window Galion watched. Feren was at the back of the company and Legolas at the head. How he hated the spoilt prince, but Valinor would be different, wouldn't it? Then his eyes looked at Feren's form as he walked away forever. Away from him, certainly, because by the time he returned Galion would be gone. How beautiful Feren was, and how Galion's heart ached as he turned away from the window. But he turned back for one last look to see Feren staring up before turning away. It was so quick, yet what did it mean. If only Galion had been brave enough to wave, or to allow hope into his heart. He sat on the bed, his mind disquieted, wondering why life worked supremely well for some but was an endurance for others.

 

Thranduil had forbidden Galion to leave without a warrior guard for the journey to Mithlond. Galion had protested, secretly glad that he would be ordered to stay, because even he knew the horrors that lay outside the kingdom. Honour had to be satisfied, and it was. Galion agreed to stay, appearing to seem as if under duress. He might even get to see Feren again. Maybe he would be in the number of guards who accompanied him. Then his face fell. Captains were never sent out except to battle situations, or when escorting important visitors, they were too valuable to be used in any other way. At least Thranduil had not made him return to working in the cellars. 

 

The day after Legolas' party had left to meet with Glorfindel, Thranduil announced to Galion that he had found two warriors to escort him to Mithlond. Galion was crushed; now there was no way he would see Feren ever again. Their routes had no chance of overlapping because small parties of two or three would make their way to the western borders on foot. They would sail along the Forest River until the halfway point, and then head through the forest in a south-westerly direction until they reached the green plains outside the Mirkwood, leading to the Old Ford point of the Anduin. Legolas' party would have set off in the other direction, on a longer but easier route.

 

Wearily he shouldered his pack, his belongings inside. For an elf born several hundred years before, he had few possessions. It hardly mattered, Thranduil had given him gold and silver so that he would not be poor in Aman, plus he had sold all that he was unable to carry. Still, he wondered if he would be all right, and if the far off lands really were all that legend said they were. With his luck it could all turn out to be a terrible disaster.

 

Galion and his two companions set out at the same time as Legolas and his warriors reached Esgaroth. 

 

o0o0o0o

 

Legolas and his warriors reached the outskirts of the Mirkwood, by following the Forest River in an easterly direction to Esgaroth. Then they sailed down the River Running to the boat terminus at the eastern end of the Old Forest Road. Once there, they engaged horses for the two hundred mile long route along the road that cut through the Mirkwood and led out onto the plains of green countryside through which ran the Anduin River. The long way around but the safest, especially for large parties.

 

Glorfindel and Legolas met at the entrance to the Mirkwood Forest, at the Anduin end of the Old Coast Road.

 

"For you." Glorfindel pulled the replacement bottle of Old Elanor out of his backpack and handed it to Legolas. "It seems that there was one more. Elrond gave it to me out of his private collection."

 

"Is this really the very last one?" Legolas asked greedily, fluttering his eyelashes madly.

 

"As far as I am aware." Glorfindel held his fingers crossed because he hated lying, but if it was necessary to please Legolas then so be it. 

 

"We shall stop for a while and have some refreshments before leaving," Legolas announced as he put the bottle in his horse's saddle bag. "I am so pleased, Lord Glorfindel, that you have decided to visit our realm again. Your bedroom is the best in the Royal Visitors Wing."

 

"I had no idea there was a wing for royal visitors in the palace."

 

"There is now. That means you will only be two doors away from me." Legolas continued to bat his lashes up and down, as he smiled coyly.

 

"What is behind the intervening door?"

 

"A broom cupboard."

 

"Well that's all right then," Glorfindel smiled. Legolas fancied him, he was sure of it. Hopefully, he would never look at another girl again after spending a night in his bed, because that was exactly where he intended taking him if everything went right. He was going to do his very best to capture the elf who had stolen his heart the last time they met.

 

Feren was itching to get back to Mirkwood; not knowing if Galion was still there was causing him so much anxiety that he went silent for long periods, seeming to not hear others when they spoke to him, and being quite lost in his thoughts. Why hadn't he told Galion, the fairest elf he had ever set eyes upon, how he felt. Galion never looked his way, but for all that he might be shy instead of not being at all interested in him. 'I am going to lose the elf I love because I am a coward," he thought, not considering that Galion might be thinking the very same thing but about himself.

 

o0o0o0o

 

"The spiders are noisy tonight," Glorfindel remarked softly as they rode silently. The only lights were from the lamps they used to light the path before them, but that was enough to reflect in the thousands of malevolent eyes that regarded them.

 

"Yes." Legolas surveyed the southern line of the forest where the Dread One's monsters resided. "It may be nothing, or we might be in for a small skirmish. Don't worry, Lord Glorfindel, we are well used to such excitement."

 

There was a frisson of exhilaration in the air accompanied by an air of expectancy. Both Legolas' and Glorfindel's warriors rode their horses with one hand on their swords and the other on the reins. The sounds grew louder. Legolas reached across with an urgency borne of familiarity and pushed Glorfindel down, while ducking himself. There was a thud to the side of Glorfindel's horse.

 

"That was close."

 

"What was that?" Glorfindel looked up as Legolas pulled on his bow and shot an arrow straight through the spider that had landed the other side of Asfaloth. 

 

"It was a spider. A yearling by the looks of it. One of the bigger spiders must have thrown it at us, or it had some sort of death wish." Legolas chuckled. "Don't worry. They will not attack us. Indeed, they have suffered heavy losses when they have in the past."

 

At the southern side of the Old Forest Road the spiders chittered loudly, a clicking, grating sound that sent chills through the spines of the warriors from Imladris. But they were used to action; Glorfindel had selected his very best, and they would match the perils of the unknown with a fierce fight to victory, or to death, because that was always a possibility. 

 

"I wouldn't be so sure," Glorfindel grunted, keeping his hand firmly on the hilt of his sword.

 

"We will camp here until morning," Legolas announced. He looked at Glorfindel. "The night is the most dangerous time, but there really are very few attacks out in the open, especially if we build a fire. They will quieten down in the end."

 

"But we have just been attacked," Glorfindel protested. "Wouldn't it make more sense to carry on?"

 

"There are even bigger spiders further up, and your party is not equipped for speed. We will wait until first light."

 

"As you wish," Glorfindel said, his face not giving away his unhappiness at the decision. "You are more experienced than I in matters concerning the Mirkwood."

 

o0o0o0o

 

"Hey, Galion!" Silimaurë held his hand out to Galion to help him board the small boat they would use to sail down the river. "King Thranduil said you wanted to leave but I didn't believe it. Now I have seen it with my own eyes and I still don't believe you want to go."

 

Elhael, his companion, smiled in greeting as Galion embarked. "Welcome aboard. I suppose sea longing hits us all in the end."

 

"It isn't sea longing," Galion replied. "I just don't want to live here anymore."

 

"I don't suppose being stuck in the wine cellars is that much fun compared to being a warrior, but it's a lot safer," Silimaurë said as he threw Galion's backpack into the hold. He looked up and grinned. "We were told you drank Legolas' irreplaceable bottle of wine. Were you made to leave, or was it your choice?"

 

Elhael shook his head. "King Thranduil isn't going to make an elf leave just because he drank a bottle of wine, no matter how rare it is."

 

"You are right," Galion said to Elhael. "He would have been happy for me to stay. Legolas doesn't appear to be his father's favourite person right now."

 

Silimaurë shrugged. "He is no one's favourite person; he acts like a spoilt brat."

 

Elhael nodded. "He is brave, I will give him that, but he does act as though the world revolves around him. Those poor girls who sailed. I wonder how they are now. He wasn't very kind to them. I mean, who wants to sit and listen to him play the flute all night and be marked out of ten for how well they can discuss a boring book? No wonder they wanted to leave rather than spend the rest of their lives with the most boring elf in Middle-earth."

 

"Well, he was no fun on patrol," Galion said with a chuckle. "He would sit and read poetry at the camp fire and make us all listen. Once we started clearing our throats and coughing every time when he said the word 'roses' in a poem he was reading to us. He became really angry and ordered us to stop or be thrown into the cells when we arrived back. So we did it all the more to show him he couldn't treat us like that."

 

"I heard he stopped you being a warrior when you said he fancied Glorfindel," Silimaurë said quietly, as if they might be overheard. "It seems a petty reason to destroy someone's career. Anyway, he should be so lucky."

 

"Apparently, he had had enough of the warriors poking fun at him and needed to make an example of someone. He decided that elf would be me. It could have been any one of us."

 

"I have heard that his warriors do not engage with him at all now. They only talk to him when absolutely required." Elhael smiled. "I bet he wishes he had not been so rash."

 

"I am so glad I am not in his detachment," Silimaurë said. Elhael agreed and said that he could not imagine how anyone could put up with the bratty prince.

 

"Well, if King Thranduil doesn't do something about the way his son acts there will be more of us leaving, that's for sure." Galion took the oars from Elhael. "My turn now."

 

They sailed to the halfway point and then disembarked. The boat was left on the bank, waiting for when Silimaurë and Elhael returned.

 

o0o0o0o

 

The journey through the forest was quiet, but they still kept an ear cocked for anything out of the ordinary that might signal danger. Hardly speaking, the elves followed a track through the forest that still showed signs of having been trodden from when Legolas' ex-girlfriends had left to sail.

 

"Listen," Silimaurë said softly, looking to the canopy above.

 

"I heard it too," Elhael whispered.

 

"It's faint, so the spider is high up. We do not want to hang around here." Galion placed his hand upon the hilt of his dagger, as if expecting the spider to come rushing at them, full of fury and at lightning speed.

 

"We will double our pace," Silimaurë decided.

 

"There are supposed to be no spiders in this part of the forest. We must inform King Thranduil when we get back." Elhael stood at the back, signalling Galion to go ahead. "I don't like this one bit."

"Less talking," Silimaurë hissed.

 

They carried on walking through the trees and bushes. The forest did not seem as healthy as it used to be, as if a sickness was slowly eating it alive. As they proceeded further the air became close and musty, with the tendrils of a foul but familiar odour.

 

Halfway across the forest, with the river behind and the borders ahead, the elves reached a clearing covered in a thick layer of gossamer fine webs. There was a slight shiver across the whole structure when a tree creaked over the other side of the clearing.

 

"We cannot turn back," Silimaurë said quietly.

 

"It may be like this ahead as well." Elhael looked around wondering if they should indeed return.

 

"We need to go east for a while and then down. The journey will take a day longer, I expect, but it should be safer than carrying on in this direction." Galion wondered if they would meet Legolas' party if they did. He might even see Feren one last time. Life wasn't like that though, and he knew that better than anyone. Anyway, it was still worth going that way, he did not feel like being chased by a load of spiders.

 

"This way." Silimaurë turned east and the others followed.

 

The forest grew greener as they walked east. The air felt fresher and lost the musty odour. Birds sang, whereas the forest had been quiet before. Up above, the wind made the leaves rustle. 

 

Silimaurë stopped. "I think the spiders must have covered the tree canopy as well. I heard no leaves moving back there."

 

"We should move southwards now," Elhael said.

 

"It doesn't feel so malevolent here," Galion remarked. "We should be safe."

 

"With the spiders spreading across this part of the forest, I could see King Thranduil letting you back into our ranks," Elhael said with a grin. "I can see you would not want to be in Prince Legolas' contingent, but ours sees just as much action. Probably more in fact."

 

"We do not get the glory though," Silimaurë sighed.

 

"Neither do the warriors who ride with Legolas," Galion grinned. He kicked a small fallen branch that threatened to trip anyone walking that way. "He keeps all that to himself. He is a good fighter though, probably the best I have ever seen, but that is his only redeeming feature."

 

"He is an awesome fighter," Elhael agreed, "It's a shame he doesn't have a personality to match. I don't know how Feren puts up with him."

 

"When I was a warrior he never said anything about how he felt about Legolas, but sometimes I did see him narrowing his lips and rolling his eyes." Galion put his hand on the trunk of a tree as he stepped over a particularly large root sticking up from the forest floor. "What's all this sticky stuff?"

 

The tree oozed bright red sap. Galion wiped his hand on another tree nearby. He spat into his palm and wiped his hand on some leaves. He had touched sap before that was dark orange or yellow, but never a colour as bright as this. In any case, it was just as hard to remove. He thought nothing of it as he carried on walking.

 

"Some of the trees where the spiders were had the same sort of stuff oozing from them, but that was higher up," Silimaurë said, looking at Galion's palm. "Did you see it?"

 

Galion shook his head. Elhael said he had glanced upwards but then turned away to assess their immediate surroundings.

 

For the next two days they walked through the forest. Sometimes they saw a deer or a stag running ahead. Twice they saw wild boar running away. Up above, a multitude of birds sang. Occasionally, there was a gap in the canopy and they could see the sky. All the while, Galion did not feel right, not ill exactly, but not right in himself. As they progressed, walking became harder and slower, and his joints ached. As they neared their destination he began to feel dizzy and sick.

 

"You haven't looked right since you touched that tree sap," Elhael said as he watched Galion breathing in deeply, as if out of breath.

 

"I feel terrible." Galion's voice was hoarse, and he spat a mouthful black bile. A drip of sweat fell from his cheek onto the ground. The leaf it fell upon sizzled and died.

 

"What the..." Silimaurë exclaimed. "You have been poisoned."

 

Elhael took hold of Galion's hand and saw the red sap had discoloured the palm and turned it purple. The swollen edges were filled with pus and looked about to burst. He took his dagger and sliced through the green skin and squeezed, a movement so swift that Galion had no time to protest. 

 

Galion clenched his teeth with the pain, but did not cry out. Maybe he would feel better after the poison had gone. He doubted it though. "We will carry on," he said thickly. "I refuse to die here."

 

"Listen to the drama queen," Silimaurë joked. "You are not going to die. We are nearly at the Old Forest Road, and then it's just a short trip to the Anduin, and across the mountain pass. After that we will arrive at the Last homely House where Lord Elrond will heal you." Privately, Silimaurë thought Galion wouldn't last the next couple of hours, unless he was very lucky.

 

"Yes, you will see. He will make you feel better in no time," Elhael said, a false sense of jollity on his face. 

 

Silimaurë took some athelas from his pack and pressed the leaves against the wound. Then he bound Galion's palm with a bandage. "That will have to do. Why didn't you tell us your palm was in such a state?"

 

"It was fine this morning," Galion replied. "There was just the red stain. Nothing else."

 

Silimaurë poured out some green fluid into a small metal cup. "Drink this, it's tincture of athelas."

 

Galion already knew what it was but did not have the strength to say so. He accepted the cup and drank the contents down in a few gulps. It tasted clean and fresh. He noticed that his mouth did not taste so foul afterwards, and the furring of his tongue and the burning in his stomach was much reduced.

 

"You probably won't feel too great for the next few hours," Silimaurë said. "But we need to keep walking. Elhael, hold onto his other side."

 

Galion walked between the two warriors, or rather he stumbled. There was not long to go they constantly assured him.

 

o0o0o0o

 

"I thought you said the spiders wouldn't attack?" Glorfindel raged at Legolas as he and two warriors shot their spears into the underbelly of a huge spider.

 

"If you want to argue then let's do so when this is over," Legolas shouted back. "Anyway, if we had carried on going we might have had many more spiders attacking us."

 

Feren hacked the spider's head away from its body, and as it fell to the ground he kicked it hard towards the southern side of the road. "That's what we do to the enemy," he shouted as loud as he could. As if in reply, several huge spiders came scuttling from the forest to attack. "Oh shit..."

 

"Feren, how about keeping your great big mouth shut?" Legolas yelled as he fired three arrows in succession at the spider. He then leapt upon its head and plunged his sword and dagger into its eyes, several times.

 

The three spiders were soon dispatched by the warriors. Glorfindel told the angry Legolas that he considered they would have attacked anyway, Feren just hastened their appearance. Legolas' warriors sat silently cleaning their swords, all having felt the lash of Legolas' tongue during the battle. They were well aware of how differently Glorfindel treated his men.

 

At the edge of the forest appeared three figures. Silimaurë and Elhael supporting Galion, whose head hung down in unconscious slumber. They walked forward, and Elhael called for help. The warriors looked up, then ran over to meet them.

 

"What happened?" Feren asked as he took Galion into his arms. Silimaurë told him about the spiders and the poisonous red tree sap as he ran with him to the camp healer.

 

Galion was dying. Feren felt in his heart the coming loss of the one he loved. The one to whom he had not dared profess his feelings. But that would change, if Galion was ever to wake up.

 

Glorfindel stopped Silimaurë and Elhael. "What has happened?"

 

"Galion touched a tree trunk and this strange red sap went on his hand. He cleaned it off, but it made his hand go purple and green. We cut his palm to let the poison out and bound it with athelas. We also gave him some athelas tincture, but he is not doing well at all." Silimaurë looked towards the tent where Galion lay.

 

Legolas asked Elhael why they had deviated from the course normally taken through the forest. Elhael replied that they had encountered a huge spider web that was moving underneath, and so they went east to avoid being attacked. 

 

"A course of action I would have taken as well," Glorfindel said quickly, in case Legolas had any ideas otherwise.

 

"Come," Glorfindel said to Silimaurë and Elhael. "I will see if I can help."

 

They entered the healer's tent. Galion lay inside on a makeshift bed, with the healer tending him. Feren hovered near Galion's feet, coming to attention when Legolas and Glorfindel entered.

 

Legolas regarded Galion. "He used to look like that when he was drunk, which was always." He chuckled and asked the healer if Galion was really ill or had drank too much of his wine.

 

It was all too much. Feren's fist shot into Legolas' face before he could even think about what he was doing. Glorfindel stopped him from aiming a second punch, quietly saying he was in enough trouble, although, in his opinion, it was well deserved.

 

"You are on report," Legolas snarled. "When we get back you will be tried for the crime of striking a superior and you will be found guilty."

 

"Well then, I have nothing to lose," Feren smirked.

 

"You have everything to lose."

 

"He has nothing to lose," Glorfindel glared, looking Legolas in the face. "In fact, it didn't happen."

 

"YES IT DID!" Legolas shouted, full of rage.

 

"If you want diplomatic relations to stay the same as they are, then this did not happen. I am quite happy to tell King Thranduil about this evening and how your command is lacking, to say the least."

 

Sulkily, Legolas agreed that Feren would not be disciplined. Feren turned away, not saying a word.

 

Glorfindel took Galion's hand. "He is near death." he looked up at Feren. "I will do what I can."

 

"Thank you, my lord," Feren replied quietly.

 

The healer watched as Glorfindel concentrated on Galion's hand, and he quietly opened his mouth in surprise when he saw a pink glowing sheen followed by a golden light spreading from Glorfindel's hand and up Galion's arm, eventually engulfing the whole of his and Glorfindel's bodies. "The red does not come from the tree or from the spiders, this was put here by the servants of the one we do not call by his name. They painted random tree barks with the intent of infecting the elves who touched it, turning their hearts to ice and twisting their minds so they would serve the enemy. There would only be a few affected, not enough for anyone to suspect anything was wrong."

 

"Then why is he dying?" Feren asked.

 

"Because the sap was far too strong for the purpose. It has no effect on me though; I am well used to battling evil, seen and unseen." Glorfindel kept hold of Galion's hand as his body shook violently. "Good, it is leaving him." A puddle of green, streaked with black shards, seeped from underneath Galion's body, while rivulets of green pus flowed from the orifices in his face and from the pores of his skin. Then it stopped. Where it fell the grass died, and the earth fizzled as if burning. Glorfindel moved his boot away from the festering pool as the glow engulfing them faded.

 

"Well, I have never seen anything like that," the healer said, still amazed.

 

"It's a gift that most elves do not possess," Glorfindel said. He stood up. "I have a certain prince to see, if you will excuse me." He looked at Feren and smiled. "Tell him you love him, because I have seen his heart and you will not be unhappy with his response."

 

"Is it that obvious?" Feren asked, somewhat surprised.

 

Glorfindel chuckled and left the tent.

 

oOoOoOoO

 

"Well, did you cure him?" Legolas looked at Glorfindel as though he wanted him to leave and never come back. He was not the elf he thought he was and he wanted nothing more to do with him. How had he ever fancied him, he wondered. But Legolas was wrong, his pride was hurt but his inner feelings were the same.

 

"Yes, of course I did. Now let's have some of that wine."

 

"But it's irreplaceable. It's a one off."

 

"It's only wine. Elves are worth more."

 

"Well obviously." How dare Glorfindel imply that he cared more for a rare bottle of wine than his fellow warriors. 

 

"Come, let us be friends again." Glorfindel pulled Legolas close and didn't let go.

 

What was happening? Legolas felt the warmth inside his body and out. A gradual heat that set alive the joy in his heart and the full force of the feelings he should have had since he was born, but had been lacking. He did not see the rose gold glow encompassing his and Glorfindel's bodies, but he felt the release of love, happiness, empathy and joy. It was Glorfindel's gift to him, if only he was aware, and forever he would be a changed elf.

 

oOoOoOoO

 

Galion's eyelids fluttered and then they opened. He lay upon a different bed over the other side of the healer's tent.

 

Feren leaned forward. "Before you say anything I need to tell you I love you. I am telling you now because I am a coward and I know you probably won't remember me making a fool of myself."

 

Galion smiled. "I thought I was dying."

 

"Glorfindel saved your life."

 

"And so have you, Feren. You see, I am also a coward and never said how I felt." 

 

Feren held Galion close and then he kissed him. "Don't sail?"

 

"I won't sail," Galion whispered.

 

Feren sighed deeply as if a tight spring within him had stretched beyond the point of ever going back. He had a future now, not an empty longing that could never be fulfilled.

 

They held each other for a long time, hardly saying anything, but each knowing they had closed the gulf that stopped them from being happy. The future was theirs now and would always be.


End file.
